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THE DOGON INITIATIVE (The Deniables, Book 1) currently has a 4.8 star rating (out of 5 stars) on Amazon and a 4.6 star rating on Goodreads, showing that reviewers are resonating with this new release novel by New Zealand father-and-son writing team Lance and James Morcan.

Co-authors of the bestselling historical adventures WHITE SPIRIT and INTO THE AMERICAS, and the thrillers SILENT FEAR and THE ORPHAN TRILOGY, the Morcans say their latest novel and the series it has spawned, or is about to spawn, were inspired by the belief American intelligence contracts foreign mercenaries to undertake clandestine missions abroad.

“They’re known as deniable assets,” Lance explains. “Deniable because, if a mission goes belly up, the agency will deny any knowledge of their existence and no-one’s to their assistance. For obvious reasons, we refer to the assets as the Deniables.”

James say book one in the series shows how the CIA’s New Paradigms Team, a newly-formed humanitarian division of the agency, is tasked with saving Mali’s persecuted Dogon people from genocide.

He continues, “Although fictional, we consider it’s not too unlikely the CIA is pursuing humanitarian goals, and, with that in mind, that’s the basis of the entire series. Each book will focus on the Deniables’ latest mission.”

“A novel of epic length, THE DOGON INITIATIVE proves once again that the Morcans are a very fine writing team. This is a tale that pleads to be a film…Highly recommended.” – That’s Amazon Hall of Fame Top 50 reviewer Grady Harp’s take on the new release action-thriller by Lance & James Morcan, the authors of nine published novels.

Excerpts from Grady’s Amazon review follow:

The Morcans know how to deliver intrigue, both on scientific subjects and most assuredly on suspense thrillers. They invite us in with their moody Prologue which in addition to giving us insight in the tale to follow allows us to appreciate some fine African ‘history’. ‘The first full moon of the rainy season was a momentous occasion for the Dogon people of Mali. It marked the day, many countless moons ago when, according to legend at least, Moussa Diarra, one of their ancient forefathers, discovered Sirius B, the second star in the Sirius solar system and one that wouldn’t be rediscovered by astronomers until hundreds of years later. And then only with the aid of telescopes. Every year, Dogon used the occasion to celebrate Moussa’s discovery and to pay homage to the greatest of all their spiritual leaders. Moussa had ruled over Dogon when the Mali Empire was the largest in West Africa. Its western border stretched all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and it was a center of culture, language, education, mathematics, science, law, trade, and great wealth. It was a time when Dogon had considerable more influence. In the present day they are a persecuted minority facing cultural extinction as they’re continually attacked by larger ethnic and religious fundamentalist groups whose number include disenchanted Muslims.’

With that flavor of credible authenticity the story proceeds – mood set, characters arise. Apropos of the authors the lead character is Australian – security consultant Dean Hawkins. Or as the summary of the plot states, ‘A group of foreign mercenaries hired as deniable assets by a newly-formed humanitarian division of the CIA is tasked with saving Mali’s persecuted Dogon people from genocide. The operation must be carried out in stealth while journeying across some of West Africa’s most hostile terrain. They are also instructed to help solve an ancient astronomical mystery linked to the pyramids of Egypt. Nicknamed the Deniables because their existence isn’t officially acknowledged by the CIA, the mercenaries are crazy enough to accept the mission anyway. However, they soon find themselves fighting for their lives when they get caught in the middle of warring ethnic factions in Mali. Their only way to survive is to join with the Dogon in a race against the clock. The stakes are so high that not only could an entire indigenous group be wiped off the face of the Earth, but all evidence that supports advanced ancient technology theories surrounding the Dogon and a lost civilization thesis may be destroyed in the process. Inspired by a true-life mystery of astronomy.’

Early in our new release action-thriller THE DOGON INITIATIVE (The Deniables, Book 1) the CIA recruits an eight-strong taskforce of foreign mercenaries. They are deniable assets. Hence their collective moniker, The Deniables. Which means, if a mission goes belly up, no-one acknowledges their existence… and no-one’s coming to their rescue!

Meet The Deniables:

Aussie Dean Hawkins (40) provides security consultancy services to corporations and governments in Africa and Middle East when he’s recruited to head the CIA’s new taskforce. Ex-Australian Army special forces and an unarmed combat expert, Hawkins specialized in long-range combat reconnaissance and airborne operations, serving primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. He resigned the army abruptly for reasons never divulged. Intelligent and fluent in Arabic, he’s a natural leader.

Scot Iain Fraser (37) is Hawkins’ 2IC. An ex-SAS (British Army) and a ‘dems’ or demolitions expert, he was court-martialed after being caught twice for screwing officers’ wives whilst the hubbies were away on active duty. Fraser has since been working as a mercenary in many of the world’s hot spots. Big, bearded and tough, he’s a sergeant major type who is also a leader of men. He’s on probation because of his court martial.

Englishwoman Sandra Bishop (26) is the team’s signaler. She’s an ex-British Army-trained signaler, handling secure communications in the field – her specialties being HF radio and SATCOM (satellite communications). Bishop has served in various Middle East hot spots. Fluent in Morse Code and an IT guru and Internet hacker, she’s a tomboy type, quick to react to perceived insults and not slow to put the menfolk in their place.

Indian Harita Kumar (28) is a specialist sniper. Ex-Indian Army, she’s one of only two females to graduate as a sniper in the Indian Armed Forces, and the only female sniper to be accepted into the Indian Special Forces. Kumar saw recent action (2017/18) in the Kashmir conflict (counter-terrorist activities against Paki troops and Paki-sponsored terrorists). Cool under pressure and multi-lingual, she has many opportunities to prove her marksmanship.

Belgian Philippe Merckx (39) is a weapons expert. A former member of the French Foreign Legion, Merckx served with them in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan up to 2014 and in Rwanda and Chad prior to that. More recently has been a mercenary in the world’s hot spots. Huge of stature and immensely strong, he’s deceptively intelligent and multi-lingual, speaking five European languages. He’s also the only married member of the taskforce.

German Dirk Becker (29) is a demolitions/explosives expert who formerly served in the German Army. He left to serve as a mercenary, protecting oil interests in Iraq. Multi-lingual, Becker is fluent in four European languages. He’s also very ambitious and hyper-critical with a psychotic personality and no moral compass. He is on the taskforce against Hawkins’ wishes on the insistence of his employer who claims Becker’s the best at what he does.

Brazilian Rubens Senna (25) serves as the team medic. A Brazilian Army-trained medic, he was decommissioned because he helped himself to drugs he had access to. After kicking the drug habit, Senna reinvented himself as a mercenary and served in various trouble spots around the globe. A skinny, long-haired, unshaven character, he’s former Brazilian mixed martial arts welterweight champion who is also pretty handy with a knife.

Frenchwoman Marie Akinwande (29) is a former French Army-trained FAC (Forward Air Control) specialist who is back-up for signaler Bishop and spotter for sniper Harita. Born and raised in France, she’s the mixed race African-French daughter of immigrants. Before joining army, Akinwande was youngest-ever air traffic controller to serve at Charles de Gaulle Airport. She’s also multi-lingual French, English and the Yoruba dialect of her Nigerian father.

Collectively, they’re a disparate lot, which doesn’t augur well for their first mission – to repatriate a high profile Dogon exile to his Mali homeland and to save the persecuted Dogon people from genocide.

Membership of our Underground Knowledge global discussion group on Goodreads.com continues to climb with the number of Undergrounders topping 10,500. It remains one of the most active and fastest-growing groups on the Amazon-owned book site for authors and readers.

The group’s aim is to encourage debates about important and under-reported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring mind and a desire to gain or share ‘underground knowledge’. Everyone’s welcome!

Our new release action-thriller novel THE DOGON INITIATIVE, book one in The Deniables Series, was released this week on Amazon.

A group of foreign mercenaries hired as deniable assets by a newly-formed humanitarian division of the CIA is tasked with saving Mali’s persecuted Dogon people from genocide. The operation must be carried out in stealth while journeying across some of West Africa’s most hostile terrain. As if all that’s not enough, they are also ordered to help solve an ancient astronomical mystery linked to the pyramids of Egypt.

Mission impossible? Duh!

Nicknamed the Deniables because their existence isn’t officially acknowledged by the CIA, the mercenaries are crazy enough to accept the mission anyway. However, they soon find themselves fighting for their lives when they get caught in the middle of warring ethnic factions in Mali. Their only way to survive is to join with the Dogon in a race against the clock. The stakes are so high that not only could an entire indigenous group be wiped off the face of the Earth, but all evidence that supports advanced ancient technology theories surrounding the Dogon and a lost civilization thesis may be destroyed in the process.

Inspired by a true-life mystery of astronomy, The Dogon Initiative highlights some of the many myths and theories surrounding the fascinating Dogon people of Mali. In particular, their unexplained knowledge of the invisible-to-the-eye Sirius B white dwarf star, the rings of Saturn and other heavenly bodies, and their rumored ancestral relationship to ancient Egyptians.

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The Dogon Initiative is the ninth novel by father-and-son writing team Lance and James Morcan. Their previous works of fiction include the bestselling historical epics White Spirit and Into the Americas, as well as their modern thrillers Silent Fear and The Orphan Trilogy.

Membership of our Underground Knowledge global discussion group on Goodreads.com has just topped 10,000. One of the most active and fastest-growing groups on the Amazon-owned book site for authors and readers, it’s now one of the biggest as well!

The group’s aim is to encourage debates about important and under-reported issues of our era. All you need is an enquiring mind and a desire to gain or share ‘underground knowledge’. Everyone’s welcome!

Like this:

Fast-paced, totally fresh and original, filled with deep and complex characters, The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1) is a controversial, high-octane thriller with an edge.

In book one in The Orphan Trilogy, an orphan grows up to become an assassin for a highly secretive organization. When he tries to break free and live a normal life, he is hunted by his mentor and father figure, and by a female orphan he spent his childhood with. On the run, the mysterious man’s life becomes entwined with his beautiful French-African hostage and a shocking past riddled with the darkest of conspiracies is revealed.

See what the critics are saying about this novel:

★★★★★“The authors manage to weave political intrigue, espionage and eugenics into an exciting fabric of mystery and entertainment. The reader can’t but believe that the novel may not be only a work of fiction.” -I.A. Wilhite, Ph.D.

★★★★★“What makes The Ninth Orphan stand out from other thrillers is its intelligent handling of its themes. Like Kazuo Ishiguro’s haunting novel, Never Let Me Go, The Ninth Orphan taps into our fascination with the possibilities of genetic selection, and the consequences it may bring. Throw in a pinch of romance and the suggestion of political shadow organizations that may or may not operate in the real world, and you have an exhilarating read that will keep the little grey cells ticking over long after you’ve reached the final page.” -The Flaneur Book Reviews UK

★★★★★“Moves at the speed of a runaway train” -J.R. Rogers (author of ‘Doomed Spy’)

★★★★“A Cloak and Dagger Grand Prix” -The Kindle Book Review

★★★★★“A fantastic spy thriller” -A Made Up Story Book Reviews

★★★★“This book is fast paced, and I mean fast” -C9C Reviews

★★★★★“Every twist and turn that you can imagine” -Holy Smoley Book Review

★★★★“Ranks amongst the best thrillers” -Kindle Book Review UK

★★★★★“This psychological thriller really kept me on the edge of my seat!” -Susan M. Heim, bestselling author of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series